Jesus Asking for Us

 

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20).

 

I take much comfort in these words of Jesus, to think that He prayed for me, He prayed for you, He prayed for us. In fact, not only did He pray for us, He continues to pray for us:

 

“Therefore He is able also to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). This is amazing to me, that Jesus prays for me.

 

Everyone of us who know Jesus Christ today can trace our knowing Him back to that first generation of men and women who first knew Him while He walked the earth. We don’t know how many there were in that first generation. We tend to focus on the original Apostles, apostles with a capital “A”. We might also think of the 70 who Jesus sent out during His ministry (Luke 10:1). Then there were about 120 in the Upper Room (Acts 1:15) – were they all there on the Day of Pentecost? Were there more, were there less? Were there hundreds in that first generation just before Pentecost? Were there thousands? (They need not all have been in Jerusalem, though for sure Jerusalem was the epicenter).

 

We don’t know the specifics, but what we do know is that, compared to what was to come, relatively speaking, it was a small group from which we are descended…but is that not often the case? Most importantly, we are descended from Jesus Christ, for every man and woman of that first generation received their New Life from Jesus (we are no longer in “Adam” but in “Christ”; Romans 5:12 – 21; 1 Corinthians 15:35 – 49).

 

The point is that we are all children of the first generation in one way or another. Even those who have had the miracle of direct revelation can trace that revelation into the communion of saints, to the faithful testimony of that first generation…a generation of which Christ Jesus is the Firstborn; from Him we all descend (and ascend!)

 

My great-great Aunt Martha, who was born in the 19^th century, told me of her Aunt Rose. Her lasting memory of Rose was contained in the words, “Aunt Rose prayed.” When I first heard this from Aunt Martha in the 1960s my thought was, “Aunt Rose prayed for me.” You see, I am certain that Rose’s prayers included her family, her family as she then knew it, and her family as it would unfold in the future. Therefore, her prayers included me.

 

There is a historical record of one of my 5^th great grandfathers walking his property in the 18^th century and praying for his family. Since I’ve been on that very property it is easy for me to visualize him walking and praying, praying and walking. I am certain that he prayed for me, that I was included in his intercessory prayers for his family, his family which then was and his family which was to come.

 

A friend recently told me that he realized that the seed he was sowing in the lives of his family, of his children and grandchildren, might not bear fruit until after he had passed from this life. My friend saw beyond his own life…and yet what he saw was his own life in Christ, a life that doesn’t end with death, but continues both in heaven and still on earth. What I mean is that my friend’s prayers and words will live on in his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and beyond.

 

This approaches what we mean when we speak of the “communion of the saints.” We can participate in a transcendent community (Hebrews 12:1; 12:22 – 24). As we meditate on John 17:20, we can sense the transcendence to which we belong, the numinosity of the Divine Family of God.

 

For some of us this is as natural as breathing, for most of us it may take a while for our bodies to become acclimated to the high elevations.

 

The vital thing is to know that not only did Jesus pray for us, for you and for me, but that He continues to pray for us. Jesus has never stopped praying for us. Jesus prayed for you 2,000 years ago and He continues praying for you.

 

When we are discouraged, when we have doubts, when we face challenges, let’s remind ourselves and others that Jesus is praying for us. If we are encouraged when others pray for us, how much more should we be encouraged to know that Jesus is praying for us. (And of course if Jesus is praying for us, then we most certainly ought to be praying for one another.)

 

As we will see, the Lord willing, in our next reflection, Jesus is asking the Father that we all might live in the Holy of Holies, in unspeakable communion with one another in the Trinity. What Jesus is asking – for you and for me – is beyond comprehension, but not beyond what our experience can be.

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (28)

 

“That this state of affairs has been reached becomes at the same time evident in two ways. First, it becomes necessary for members of the church-community to make a visible and public confession of faith in Christ. Second, it becomes necessary for the world either wisely to withdraw or to resort to violence” (page 228).

 

I want to make two other observations before moving on from this quotation. While there is certainly conflict between the Kingdom and the world in our vocational lives, it need not always result in “violence.” This does not mean that there isn’t tension and that there aren’t times of cultural and moral and spiritual challenge, but faithful witness to Christ is possible while we find fulfillment in our vocations. Daniel and his friends, Joseph the son of Jacob, and Nehemiah demonstrate that God’s People can flourish as they faithfully live within the systems of this present age. We can be faithful to God as well as blessings to both the world and the Church.

 

We can find joy in our vocations, joy in our coworkers and clients and customers, joy in the work we do as “unto the Lord” (Col. 3:17, 23). Our vocations ought to be primary venues for our spiritual formation into the image of Jesus Christ, they ought to be primary venues in which we encourage fellow Christians, and they ought to be primary venues in which we witness to Jesus in both word and deed (they must always go together as our way of life). After all, most of us spend more time at work than we do anywhere else, and who we really are is more likely to be seen at work and at home than anywhere else…including “at church.”

 

When Christians do excellent work, when they are loyal and faithful and truthful and when they serve others, the world in the workplace often values them…whether the workplace agrees with or understands their faith in Jesus Christ. When people know that you respect them and desire their best, when they know you are truthful, when they know they can trust you, and when your work ethic is superior, they often want you to be with their organization.

 

Vickie and I have known intense conflict in our marketplace careers, but when we look back over the years we talk about the good times, the fulfilling times, and the wonderful people we have known, the friendships we’ve had and continue to have. Frankly, the conflict we've known at work does not compare with the ugliness we’ve encountered in the professing church, the pettiness, the anger, the poison. The world is the world is the world, but what about the poison we’ve experienced in the professing church? Let us not forget that it was the religious establishment that delivered Jesus to the civic authority for crucifixion.

 

The “violence” that Bonhoeffer writes of can take many forms. In the West it can mean disciplinary action, job loss, ostracism, denial of opportunity to advance; it may even entail lawsuits and financial penalties, such as when owners of bake shops refuse to make specialty cakes for events that are contrary to their obedience to Jesus Christ.

 

When we encounter these challenges, when we are obedient to Jesus Christ in the face of conflict, will the visible church stand with us? Will we stand with others? Will we give more than lip service to encourage and support our fellow Christians when they are persecuted for their faithfulness to Jesus in their vocations?

 

As we engage in our vocational callings, which are sacred in Christ, let us remember Bonhoeffer’s words in Part I of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

 

“Even as the Father sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).